


we move like cagey tigers

by CeruleanHeart



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Catboy Steve Harrington, Catboys & Catgirls, Cuddling & Snuggling, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Roommates, Scent Marking, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeruleanHeart/pseuds/CeruleanHeart
Summary: Billy finds out that living with Steve Harrington turned local catboy holds both perks and challenges.Ears and a tail don’t turn a man into a pet and there's tension in any roommate situation but that doesn’t mean two boys can’t be domestic together.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 33
Kudos: 225





	we move like cagey tigers

**Author's Note:**

> For the lovely babysitterpng over on tumblr and twitter, who asked for something with catboy Steve. I really hope you like it! ♥

Something silky-soft whispers across the back of Billy's thigh. A touch so gentle and light it feels like the aftermath of a fading dream. 

Billy stirs in his sheets, rolls on his back while his conscience begins to surface from the depth of sleep. 

"Billy…" a soft voice purrs "Wake up, Billy." 

A hand lands on his chest and rubs him through his shirt. He lets out a pleased hum but can't bring himself to open his eyes yet. Another hand joins, starting to knead his muscles there gently. 

"Come on get out of bed!" 

He cracks one eye open squinting at the slender silhouette bent over him. 

"Mmmh, baby… why don't you keep this up and get _into_ bed with me instead?" he slurs, drunk on sleep and the warm pleasure beginning to coil in his belly from the massage. 

" _Billy!_!" the voice hisses and something pricks his skin through his t-shirt, needle-sharp and just as vicious. 

"Ouch!!" Billy's eyes fly open and he’s wide awake suddenly swatting at the hands on his chest and frowning at the grinning face that belongs to them "What the fuck, Harrington?!" 

He sits up and flips back his sheets to inspect the damage. There are tiny holes in his shirt and a speckle of pinpoint bloodstains.

“You scratched me, you little minx! Like I need any more scars!" he complains.

Harrington just yawns and spills himself into Billy’s bed and across his shins in a sinuous motion. The dark furry ears peeking out from his mop of hair twitch merrily and his long, bushy tail sways from side to side once, tickling Billy where it touches his toes and then falls flat on the mattress.

“You should thank me for the wakeup call because you’re gonna be late for work if you don’t get up now. ‘Sides…” Steve says and casts a pointed look at the tent in Billy’s boxers “You seem to like it plenty.” 

Billy gives Harrington a dark look.

“You’re the worst flatmate ever. There’s a difference between waking someone up and turning him on.”

“You gotta make up your mind, Hargrove.” Steve shifts onto his belly and stretches, arms extending all the way to the other side of the bed and back impossibly arched. His shorts ride low on his hips and for a second Billy’s eyes get caught on the spot where his tail connects with the pale skin of his lower back. He almost fails to hear it when Steve continues “Am I the worst flatmate or the worst _pet_ in the world?”

“Oh, you’re still madabout last night? It was a joke, obviously!” Billy grumbles, pulls his legs out from under Harrington and climbs out of bed.

Actually, he’d meant the term pet as an endearment because Steve had been curled up next to him on the couch, dozing gently with his eyes half-closed and Billy hadn’t been able to resist the temptation of sinking his hand into Harrington’s luxurious hair and scratching him behind one of those ears. 

He hadn’t meant to ruin the moment. But Steve can be a little touchy about the changes he went through after he fell butt-first into a tray full of syringes labeled кот at an abandoned Russian research facility. 

Whatever had been in those syringes apparently tampered with Harrington’s DNA and the results had been _interesting_. But Billy can’t possibly admit that if anything they had worsened his hopeless crush on his former enemy turned friend. Or that Steve moving into Hopper’s secluded old trailer by the lake with him because he only passes as human in a long trench coat, a hat and a scarf wrapped around his mouth these days had felt like a gift from the heavens.

There _is_ a pun about curiosity killing the cat sitting on Billy’s tongue but he’s been successfully holding it back for over two months now. Billy is _trying_.

And Steve is _pouting_. He rolls over, looking at Billy, head turned upside down now and body contorted, limbs strewn everywhere across the bed like he's made of fucking _rubber_. 

“You’re responsible for dinner tonight.” he says even though they both know the chore wheel in the kitchen is pointing at his own name. “I want something nice. Meat.”

Billy groans because that means he’ll have to do the groceries too after the auto shop closes.

“Fine.” he grits out “Anything else you need? Catnip? A flea collar?”

“Asshole.” Steve hisses and is back on his feet within a heartbeat, displaying effortless grace as he slinks out of Billy’s room.

Maybe Billy is an asshole but he’s also hard as rock and he needs Steve out of his bed _now_ or else he doesn’t know how much longer he can keep it in his pants. There will be time to apologize later, when he’s taken care of the problem and had a couple of hours to calm down. Jesus.

_______

The job at the garage doesn’t pay much but it gives Billy something to do and helps to take his mind off the things that happened almost a year ago, back in July. There’s something immensely satisfying about fixing things that are broken and Billy is good with cars. 

Really good, if he goes by the ten-dollar bill Karen Wheeler secretly slips into his chest pocket when she picks up her Ford that evening. Or maybe she’s just trying to look after him. It’s hard to tell. A lot of things have changed since he almost died. 

Billy doesn’t flirt with hot moms anymore. He returns her hug and thanks her for the tip but invests the money in the fattest, juiciest steaks it can buy and brings them home to Steve.

When he opens the door of the trailer, tired and sweaty from work, he opens it to complete darkness and two glowing dots staring at him from among it.

For a second, Billy freezes in shock, heart seizing in his chest but then a sulking voice says “Oh. You’re home.”

“Christ.” Billy breathes “It’s you. I keep forgetting you can see in the dark now.”

He hits the light switch by the door and indeed, the glow of the ceiling lamp reveals Steve lounging sideways in Hoppers La-Z-Boy. Harrington yawns, revealing the rows of tiny fangs that normally hide behind his plushy pink lips.

“What took you so long?” he asks.

“Busy day, had some errands to run.” Billy dumps the groceries on the kitchen table and begins to unpack. From the corner of his eyes, he can see the way Steve perks up, ears shooting up when he hears the rustling of the plastic back.

“You brought steak?!” he calls, immediately sounding a lot more awake.

“Yeah. Listen, about this morning and last night, I’m sor…”

“Smells good.” Steve says next to his ear suddenly and Billy almost drops the meat in surprise. 

Harrington moves fast and without making a single sound now. He’s basically got superpowers. But Billy’s not gonna stroke his ego by pointing that out. Instead, he says “Dammit, Harrington. Stop, sneaking.”

Steve snickers and moves closer to take another whiff of the fresh steaks, but his face sours.

“What’s that other smell?” he asks looking Billy up and down, brows pinched in a frown.

“Just, garage funk? I’ll hop in the shower real quick before dinner, ok?” Billy lifts the collar of his shirt and makes a face “Yuck. I can smell myself.”

“No.” Steve shakes his head and steps even closer, nostrils trembling “That’s not you. That’s Mrs. Wheeler.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot. She came by today, gave me a huge tip. And I...” Billy starts but he’s interrupted when Steve’s face crumples in pure disgust.

“Oh my god. You’re fucking her! That’s why you came home so late!” he exclaims “So gross! She’s Nancy’s _mom_!”

Billy’s entire insides twist. First, he goes cold and then he goes hot with unbridled, blazing anger. It hits him like a freight train and before he can do anything about it, he sneers at Steve.

“Don’t worry, darling.” he says, teeth bared “You’re the only _pussy_ I care for these days.”

Steve jumps back a step, tail bristling and ears completely flattened against his head. Billy can see the way his pupils contract into a razor-thin vertical line. 

“Say that again!!!” Steve growls.

Billy opens his mouth to retort something even cleverer, meaner but the anger inside of him has already exhausted itself, there’s only smoke left of its darting flame.

“Shit.” he shakes his head “Person. Ok? I meant person. Listen, I’m really sorry. I am. This whole situation got me on edge and I… I’m really not fucking Karen. I’m done with that shit.”

Steve huffs but then he deflates just as fast as Billy had before.

“I’m sorry too.” he lowers his head, ears and tail pointing downwards now “I don’t know why I’m so…”

“Catty?” Billy offers and when this time Steve laughs, a weight is lifted from his shoulders.

“Stop it, you’ll get the claws again.” Steve smiles.

“Not into kinky shit like that, Harrington. Wanna eat those steaks instead?”

Steve nods.

“Go take your shower. It’s my turn to cook anyway.”

The steaks are totally worth the trouble, in the end. Buttery soft and bursting with flavor. And Steve spending half the meal moaning around the fork with every bite is just the cherry on top for Billy.

Later they settle on the couch, TV tuned into Miami Vice and sipping a couple of cold ones. Billy’s already starting to drift off about halfway in, when Steve moves closer and melts into his side like liquid shadow.

“Say…” he whispers, chin resting on Billy’s shoulder “Did you mean what you said earlier? That you care about me?”

Billy hums. Steve’s body against his feels warm and cozy, like trust and affection. He doesn’t move this time lest he fuck up another intimate moment, just gives a small nod. The tips of Steve’s ears brush the side of his face as they move forward in expectation of his reply.

“Of course I do.” Billy says and it feels a lot like a confession.

Steve makes a low sound somewhere in the back of his throat and Billy has just enough time to realize it's a purr before Steve moves forward and nuzzles his face against the crook of his neck. It only lasts a few seconds but Steve really gets his whole head in there, rubs it against his nape and his shoulder, bumps it into the underside of his chin, before he pulls back just as suddenly.

Billy turns towards him and blinks, confused, when he sees Steve reclining against the sofa cushions with a satisfied smile.

“What was that?!” he asks and touches the place where the sensation of Steve’s caress still remains.

“Oh.” Steve grins at him, eyes sparkling with the reflection of the bright TV light “Just a cat thing.”

“Ok?” Billy says but he feels like he’s missing an important clue.

If he does, however, Steve doesn’t say anything. He just nestles into his seat looking like the cat that got the cream.

**Author's Note:**

> Hehehe. Can you tell what Stevie did in the end, the cheeky boy? Will Billy ever find out he’s claimed territory now?
> 
> I had a lot of fun working catlike behavior into Steve’s character for this fic even though it wasn’t possible to fit all my ideas into this plotline. I might actually write a follow up for this one because there’s a lot of other things I had to cut but would like to use. And I’m completely in love with catboy Steve!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this, if you did, please don’t forget to hit the little heart button right down there and maybe leave me a comment too if you want to make my day! Thanks for reading!
> 
> You can also find me @aeon-of-neon on twitter and tumbler! :)


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